Yunho had a hard expression on his face. They'd been beaten by Celestial Being once again, and who the hell knows what's happened to his little brother!

As the doors to the ship's command center slid open, the sound of his younger brother's voice caused his ears to perk up. He swerved around, nearly hitting one of the lower-ranking soldiers in the process, and intercepted his brother with a hug. Jaejoong and Myungsoo were beside him.

He checked his brother for any bruises or wounds, but found none, thankfully. As he relished in the thought that his brother was not harmed, Dongwoo's stricken face threw his happiness away. Worry creased his forehead.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," his brother replied monotonously, and that was cause for more concern. His brother never felt nothing. He never hid his emotions, not even when he was training in the military. It had made him seem like a fool, but at least he was a warm-hearted fool.

"Dongwoo, tell me," he urged.

"It's nothing," he replied, shrugging off his brother's arms. "Come on, Myungsoo. We need to see how the others are doing."

Myungsoo wordlessly followed his prince, leaving Yunho to watch them--face creased with worry.

Jaejoong gave his friend a sympathetic look, but he, too, did not know what was bothering the younger prince. He'd never been one to dwell over victories and defeats, so it wasn't quite possible that his ego was hurt that he'd been defeated. The boy didn't have much of that in the first place.

~°~

Dongwoo was lying on his bed, brows furrowed in concentration. Myungsoo sat on the edge of his own bed and watched his friend in concern.

"You really don't want to talk about it with the others?" he asked.

Dongwoo shook his head. "Just give me a little more time, Myungsoo. I need to process this properly."

"If you say so," was all he replied before throwing himself backwards onto the bed and falling asleep.

~°~

Tieria rubbed his temples, a scowl carved onto his face. Ailee faced the other meisters, knowing the level of stupidity they'd consider her actions. But no matter how stupid they were, she knew that if she were to face it all again, she'd have done the same.

Anyway, Dongwoo already knew. And since Myungsoo had been so shocked to find out it was her, then that means he'd kept her identity a secret. He would probably continue doing so, unless maybe Myungsoo decided to speak up randomly, which she doubted. The most likely thing that that guy would do would be to shoot her down the next time they meet on the battlefield rather than tattle on her. That would definitely be more effective in the long run.

"I have half a mind to band you from the group right now, Ailee," Tieria warned.

"You can't just throw her out," Allelujah interjected.

"Yes, which is why you're going to stay out of the battle. Out of all this until that kid is out of the picture," Sumeragi finished, knowing that in a fit, Tieria might say something worse. "The rest of us will first worry about this situation."

Ailee thought of making a reply, but the expression on Setsuna's face told her not to. She'll just have to stick with their decision and wait it out.

Ailee laid down on her bed, using her forearms as pillows as she stared at the ceiling. The door slid open, revealing Setsuna, who had been assigned to bring her back to one of their bases.

She stood up, gathered her things, and followed him to his suit.

Tieria, still in his pilot's suit, watched them leave with his arms crossed over his chest. His signature scowl plastered on his face.

When they arrived at the house Ailee had called 'home' while she was still pretending to be a student, Setsuna dropped her off to go back to the others. On their way there, Sumeragi had concoted a new plan which they were to execute as quickly as possible.

Once again left alone, Ailee chose to go to her room.

Somehow, the silence felt defeaning compared to the chaos of the battlefield. Had she already become such a soldier in such a short time? She hoped not...

~°~

"Myungsoo?" Dongwoo called tentatively in the darkened room.

Myungsoo hummed a reply, though he kept his eyes closed.

"Do you think the others are still awake?" he asked.

Myungsoo pulled out his phone to check the time; the hands his watch didn't glow in the dark. "Probably. It's just 10."

"Were you sleeping?"

"Not really."

"Okay."

"Dongwoo, do you want to go see the others?"

Dongwoo turned to his side, causing his bedsheets to make crumpling noises. "I feel like I need to tell them about Ailee now. Before we go back on the battlefield."

"Why?"

"Don't you think so, too?"

Myungsoo nodded. Then, remembering that Dongwoo probably didn't see his movement, voiced out his agreement. "Yeah. But what do you want to do about it?"

Dongwoo furrowed his brows. When Myungsoo didn't say anything, he asked, "What do you mean?"

"Dongwoo, what do you want us to do about the situation with Ailee? We can't protect her if she chooses to keep on fighting against us."

"I don't know, I don't want to think about it yet."

Myungsoo sighed. "Okay, I'll go get the others."

Not long after Myungsoo left--with his hair sticking out in different directions, and garbed in his pajamas--he came back with the others in tow. Each room in the ship had always been just right for two, so the seven boys had to make the space work to their advantage.

Myungsoo prompted the topic, and passed the mic to Dongwoo. With a sigh, he began to tell them about 'the situation'.

~°~

Spurred by an idea, Ailee scrambled for her communication device. Setsuna appeared on the screen, his ever-stoic expression greeting her.

"Setsuna," she began tentatively. When he didn't shut off the screen, she continued. "Will you help me? There's something I need to do."